Friday, April 30, 2010

Wizards Taking on Houston

Tomorrow the Wizards play their second road game, this time down in Houston against the Dynamo. While the Wizards haven't had a lot of luck beating the Dynamo (they've only beaten them once and that was in the team's first meeting), the Wizards have actually only lost once while down in Houston in league play. The team is 1-1-2 down there since they came into the league. This may be the Wizards best chance to get a win since the team actually did win down there in 2006. The Dynamo lost both Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden to Europe this past offseason and are struggling with some injuries to key players this season. They'll be without both Brian Ching and Geoff Cameron as well. Overall Houston is still a good solid squad and in my opinion the best coached team in the league with Dominic Kinnear.

KC probably brings it's best all around team to Houston ever, and that's even with center back Jimmy Conrad still being a big question mark for the game. Last year I wouldn't have thought I could say something like that, but Matt Besler and Pablo Escobar have looked good with Conrad out of the game. While I'd like to have Conrad in there I'm not as worried with him not in the game. Other than Conrad, the lineup is likely to be very similar to the past few games.

Key Match Up - Stephane Auvray vs Brad Davis - Word out of Houston is that Davis will take over Cameron's role as the attacking midfielder, and with him there, the key for the Wizards will be to have Auvray shut down the MLS veteran. It should be a good match up, but one that Auvray should be able to win.

PREDICTION - This is the Wizards best chance to win in Houston for a long time. the Dynamo are hurting and the Wizards are playing well. The question is can the offense step up and put the ball in the net, which they haven't done in two games. I think Kei Kamara is poised to have a big game tomorrow. He's playing the team that traded him late last year, and he's likely looking to make up for his error last week against LA. I have a feeling he may just do it this weekend. Will it lead to a win? I'm not sure, but I think KC has a very good chance tomorrow, but I'll be cautious with my prediction.